This film conveys the intense excitement and deep personal involvement of research in the stimulating context of the first synthesis of one of the inert gas compounds. An actual research problem, the first synthesis of krypton difluoride, is traced from its inspiration to the first tentative success. A train for the pyrolytic preparation of XeF4 is shown. In extreme closeup, the colorful reaction of XeF4 with water is displayed and a crystal of XeO3 is detonated by tickling with a piece of tissue. Krypton difluoride is prepared by photolysis of fluorine in solid krypton at the temperature of liquid hydrogen and identified by its infrared spectrum.

Collaborators: Prof. George C. Pimentel, University of California, Berkeley, California, and Dr. J. J. Turner, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.

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